Tens of thousands of homes have been left without running water after thawing snow and ice caused a surge in burst pipes.
Residents in Kent, Sussex, Hertforshire and Essex have been forced to turn to bottled water as providers scramble to restore supplies as households went more than 24 hours without water.
South East Water said as many as 15,000 properties had seen their running water disrupted as they faced a 300 per cent increase in the number of burst pipes than usual. This included Tunbridge Wells and surrounding areas.
Meanwhile, Southern Water said properties in Kent were without running water. As many as 20,000 may have been impacted.
Affinity Water said 8,000 customers, mostly in Hertfordshire and Essex, have had their supplies interrupted.
Have you been affected by this story? Please contact zoe.tidman@independent.co.uk
In an update at 7am on Tuesday, the water company said: “We are deeply sorry for the distress and inconvenience that this incident is causing. Our teams worked through the night to fix the burst water main so that we can return supply to our customers.”
It added: “The repair is now complete, however, it’s going to take time to get water flowing throughout the network and supply returns.”
The company previously commented on the cause behind the burst pipes: “On a normal winter's day we extract, treat and pump an average of 520 million litres of drinking water a day to customers.
“During the past 24 hours this has increased by 100 million litres to 620 million. This has resulted in many of our drinking water storage tanks, which hold treated water before it is pumped to customers' taps, going empty or very low.
“Although we planned for this, we cannot predict when and where pipes will burst and are reacting as quickly as possible.”
Residents in Broadstairs, Manston, Margate, and Ramsgate woke up to no running water on Monday morning, but Southern Water has since said water supplies in these areas have “almost fully returned” after the burst water main was successfully fixed.
Thousands of homes in Lancashire also reportedly had their water switched off on Monday due to burst pipes and leaks.
Hilary Wilce, from Benenden in Kent, said she first noticed her water was cut off this morning. While it’s just her and her husband in their home at the moment, she’s expecting up to 12 guests in the next couple of days for Christmas.
The couple is relying on bottled water from the village shop like many others in the area as they wait to hear when their water will be switched back on. According to Ms Wilce, South East Water said they will set up a water station with bottled water if they remain without water for a long time.
“Everyone is saying this is very exceptional – this terrible cold and then this heat, but this is going to happen again and again because of climate change,” Ms Wilce told The Independent.
“We are going to have very cold and very warm weather all the time now, so they [water companies] have got to invest in a more robust infrastructure or this will happen several times a winter.”
However, Ms Wilce is no stranger to water shortages as she encountered several during the summer heatwave.
She said: “We quite often have brief water shortages because I think they have to pump the water up. When it was very hot, we lost water for a few hours every evening because there didn’t seem to be enough water flowing. They said then that it was because it was very hot this summer. Anytime it’s a bit hotter or a bit colder we seem to have problems.”
South East Water said: “We’re still working hard to balance the demand for drinking water with supply following the cold snap.
“Some customers are experiencing intermittent water supplies and we’re so sorry for any disruption this may be causing.”
Bottled water stations were opened at a rugby club in Haywards Heath, a golf club in Crowborough and a leisure centre in Tonbridge.
Snow and ice have been rapidly melting as temperatures increased after days of wintry conditions in the UK.
Aviva, an insurance company, has urged people to watch out for water leaks as the weather becomes warmer and frozen pipes start to thaw.
A Southern Water spokesperson said on Tuesday: “We are sorry for the distress and inconvenience caused to our customers by the disruption to water supplies in Thanet.”
A Spokesperson for the RAC, Rod Dennis warned that melting ice could lead to dangerous road conditions: “With weather conditions in many places this weak being almost the exact opposite of last week, drivers getting away for Christmas need to be on their guard.
“Snow and ice is melting rapidly, leading to lots of surface spray, and in some parts the cold, clear conditions have been replaced with heavy rain and strong winds.
“Its vital drivers slow down for the conditions, taking particular care on high and exposed rural routes.”
Met Office meteorologist, Alex Burkill added: “It’s also worth bearing in mind that, preceding this obviously it was so cold, so the grounds were a bit frozen, drains may have frozen in places.
“As a result, their ability to cope with the rainfall may have been reduced, so that’s why we could see some greater impacts which is why the warning was issued.”
